The latter, which are his principal weapons both for war and the
chase, are small in size and formed of slight materials; but, owing to
the deadly poison with which the arrows are imbued, and the dexterity
with which they are launched, they are missiles truly formidable. One of
these arrows, formed merely of a piece of slender reed tipped with bone
or iron, is sufficient to destroy the most powerful animal. But,
although the colonists very much dread the effects of the Bushman's
arrow, they know how to elude its range; and it is after all but a very
unequal match for the fire-lock, as the persecuted natives by sad
experience have found. The arrows are usually kept in a quiver, formed
of the hollow stalk of a species of aloe, and slung over the shoulder;
but a few, for immediate use, are often stuck in a band round the head.
A group of Bosjesmans, comprising two men, two women, and a child, were
recently brought to this country and exhibited at the Egyptian Hall, in
Piccadilly. The women wore mantles and conical caps of hide, and gold
ornaments in their ears. The men also wore a sort of skin cloak, which
hung down to their knees, over a close tunic: the legs and feet were
bare in both. Their sheep-skin mantles, sewed together with threads of
sinew, and rendered soft and pliable by friction, sufficed for a garment
by day and a blanket by night.
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